Is there any History of Occupational therapy in acute care setting?
Not really, for the simple reason that people who are in acute care settings are not usually in any medical condition to participate in occupational therapy. Generally, occupational therapy is something you’d start once the patient is medically stable–off the acute care unit and into rehab. There is, however, an increasing awareness of the need for physical therapy in acute care settings. PT is important for patients post-surgically and even post-stroke, because of the rapidity of muscle breakdown and contraction when the muscles aren’t stretched and used. Patients who get PT also have fewer problems with bedsores, with deep vein thrombosis, and with loss of bone mass after periods of inactivity. So it’s important not to delay that until the patient recovers. (This is also why we now encourage early ambulation–getting out of bed and walking–with essentially all patients.
